Corn gathering and loading machine.



1 J. BODA.

CORN GATHERING AND LOADING MACHINE.

APPLIoATloN FILED JUNE 2a, 190s. 1,008,942, Patented Nov.v 14, 1911.

4 sHzBTs-sm'r 1.

Mill. n

J. BODA.

CORN GATHERING AND `LOADING MACHINE.

APPLIGATION FILED JUNE 2s, 1909.

Patented NOV. 14, 1911.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W/NfSSES;

J. BODA.

CORN GATHEBING AND LOADING MACHINE. MPMan-10N FILED JUNI: 2a, 1909.

Patented Nov. 14, 1911.

, 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

J. BODA. CORN GATHEBING AND LOADING MACHINE. APPLIUATION FILED JUNI: ze. 1909.

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Patented Nov. 14, 1911.

4 suns-SHEET 4.

JOSEPH BODA,

COMPANY, OF PLANO,

CORN

OF PLANO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

1,008,942. Original application filed March 20, 1909,

Specification of Letters Patent.

INDEPENDENT HARVESTER GATHERING AND LOADING MACHINE.

Patented Nov. 14, 1911.

Serial No. 484,620. Divided and this application led June 28, 1909. Serial No. 504,785.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH BODA, a citizen of the United States, residing at Plano, in the county of Kendall and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Corn Gathering and Loading Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

This application is a division of my pent ing application Serial No. 484,620, filed March 20, 1909, for corn gathering machine. This divisional application relates to the means for delivering the husked ears from the machine for loading, and to the connections between the different driving trains.

It relates to the features of construction shown and described as indicated in the claims.

In the drawings z-Figure l is a rear elevation of a machine embodying this invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the driving trains. Fig. 3 is a partly sectional grainward side elevation of the machine, the casing of the ear detaching or gathering dcvice being brokenY away the latter being shown in vertical fore-and-aft section. Fig. 4 is a detail sect-ion at the line 4 4 on Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a detail view at the line 5-5 on Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a detail rear side elevation of the loading elevator shown in position for delivering the corn back into the casing.

It may be'understood that the machine which is represented in the drawings comprises means for engaging the stalks as the machine advances over the field, detaching the ears therefrom and conveying them to husking devices by which the husks are stripped from the ears and the ears conveyed. for delivery into an elevating appa. ratus by which they may be discharged for loading, or along the path of the machine, as desired. The drawings do not show t e ear-detaching mechanism in detail, and` they may be of any familiar construction. Also the means for' detaching the husks vfrom the ears are not shown in detail in this application, their position only being indicated sufficiently to show the relation of the several elements to the elevator to which the ears are delivered for final discharge.

rIhe ears after being detached from the lwhich there are two at stalks are delivered rearwardly over the upper roller, 1,v of the ear-elevating mechanism, of which only said rearroller and the elevating device .appear in the drawings; said elevating device comprising the chain, 2, and ear-propelling ngers, 3, thereon. One feature of the invention consists in devices provided at the delivery end of the elevator conveying device for stripping from the fingers 3 or conveyer chain Q, ears which may be engaged by the husks, or otherwise, with such fingers. These stripping devices consist of stripping fingers 13 and 14, projecting from a horizontal rock shaft 16, mounted at a distance below the upper or delivery end ofthe path of the conveyer chain 2, and extending up from said shaft, terminating near the lower side of the chain. The stripping fingers 13, of each side of the chain, extend straight from the shaft to a line within the path of the ear-engaging fingers 3 of the conveyer chain, stopping short only so that they may clear the roll, 1, on the driving shaft 66 of said conveyer, in swinging forward to pass under it, as they 'may be caused to do by ears engaging with them. ,'Ihe stripping finger, 14, however,

which stands in the path of the chain, 2

f 4, by which they are that is, in a fore-and-aft path cutting across the links of the chain,-is deflected at its upper end forward, as seen in Fig. 3,-so that it may not be -liable to encounter the cross-bars of the link abruptly by its end, but may, at its end where such encounter would occur, trend onward in the direction of travel of the lower return ply of the chain, so that it will be readily drawn out of engagement with any link which itmay encounter. It will be understood that all the stripping fingers, 13 and 14, are held normally in their upstanding position, in which they are shown in Fig. 3, by a spring 17, coiled upon theirV shaft 16, so as to operate thereon with a resist the forward swinging movemento the fingers, which are stopped against rearward movement beyond lthe 'position at which they are shown in Fig. 3, by their tails 18 fast on the shaft 16,stopping against the shaft-bearing. Upon delivery over said roller, l, the ears fall into the inclinedchute, delivered on to the husking rolls, 5, which extend in downtendency to yieldingly.

wardly inclined direction transversely of the path of travel of theV machine at the rear, as seen in Fig. l, being'at the lower end of said rolls delivered into the elevator casing, 6, where they are engaged by the blades, 7, 0n the elevator chains, 8, carried up for delivery at the upper end of the conveyer into a wagon which may be traveling alongside the machine for that purpose, in a manner requiring no illustration and not illustrated.

In order to prevent the delivery of the ears from the elevator when so desired, while the machine isturning at the end of a row or around -a corner of a field, while the wagon traveling at the outer side of the path of the machine requires time to overtake the delivery end of the elevator, the latter is mounted for swinging upward about the aXis of its driving shaft at the lower end, so that the ears elevated by it may fall from its upper delivery end back into the casing of the elevator which incloses the lower return ply of its chain for a suflicient distance from its lower end to present an upwardly open mouth under the upper delivery end of the elevator, as may be understood from Fig. 6 so that the ears will accumulate in the elevator casing during the short time occupied by the machine in turning, ready to be carried up for delivery into the Wagon when, after the turn is completed, the elevator is lowered to customary delivering position. For such adjustment of the elevator, it is only necessary that its case, 6, should be pivotally mounted about the axis of the driving shaft, 15, at the lower end and provided with means for holding it at any inclined position to which itmay be adjusted, said means consisting in two members, l0, pivoted at the lower end on a transverse bar, ll, 'of the frame, and at the upper end engaged in notches, 12a, in the under side of the elevator frame bar, l2, such notches being positioned suitably for holding the elevator in at least two positions; one for delivering into the wagon, and the other for delivering back into t-he casing of the lower ply, as described. A wider range of adjustment, however, may be provided to permit the elevator to be lowered so as to deliver the corn into a lower wagon or on to the ground without danger of shelling the corn by the long drop which it would have from the high position to which the elevator may necessarily be lifted for delivering the corn on the top of the load already accumulated in the wagon.

A feature in this invention consists in the adaptation of the structure for disconnecting the mechanism for operating the snapping rolls and elevator connected therewith while continuing the operation of the eardelivering elevator so that the machine may f be emptied while traveling away fromy the driving shaft, l5.

field or from the stalks last stripped of their ears without the needless expenditure of power necessary for operating the snapping rolls. For this purpose, the driving train is constructed and arranged as will now be described.

The main power shaft, 20, is driven by pinions at its opposite ends meshing with gears, 2l, 21a, on the traction wheels respectively. Coperating clutch members, 22 and 23, communicate power from the shaft, 20,

"by means of a chain, 25, passing around a sprocket wheel, 26, rigid with a clutch member, 23, and around a sprocket wheel, 25a, fast on the shaft, 25D, which drives the gathering and husking devices as hereinafter described. The clutch member, 22, is feathered and mounted for sliding on the shaft, 20, while the member, 23, is loose thereon, a shipping fork, 28, being' engaged in an annular groove, 22a, in the hub of the clutch member, 22, for sliding said clutch member on the shaft into and out of engagement with the member, 23. The ear-delivering elevator mechanism is driven by a bevelgear, 29, on the shaft, 20, meshing with a bevel-gear, 30, on a fore-and-aft elevator The gear, 29, is frictionally connected, as hereinafter described, with a clutch member, 34, loose on the shaft, 20, which cooperates with a companion clutch member, 35, feathered for sliding on the shaft, 20, and is operated in said sliding movement by a shipping fork, 36, engaging with a wide annular circumferential groove, 35a, in the hub of the clutch member, 35. The frictional connection of said clutch member, 34, with the bevel-gear, 29, is effected by providing, rigid with said bevel gear, a cylindrical flange or hub, 29h, which is encompassed by a two-part collar, whose two parts, 29c and 29d, are pivoted together at one side for closing upon said cylindrical Harige or hub, and at the same point pivoted to an eccentrically vprojecting arm, 34a, of the clutch member, 34. he two parts, 29c and 29d, of the clamp collar are each provided with a radial extension, 29f, which are connected by a bolt, 29g, fast in one of said projections and extending through the other, a spring, 29h, being coiled around the projecting end of the bolt and stopped by the tension nut, 29i, on the end thereof for regulating the pressure by which the two-part collar is clamped for frictional engagement upon the flange or hub, 29h. Both the shipping forks, 28 and 36, are fast on a shaft, 37, mounted for sliding transversely of the line of travel, operated in said sliding movement by a link, 38, connected with a lever arm, 39, of a vertical rock shaft, 40, which has a hand lever, 4l, within reach of a driver on a seat, 42. Springs, 43, on the shaft, 37, react between stops, 44, on the shaft and the bearings of said shaft tending to hold the A tachin-g shaft at position for keepingY both of the clutches disengaged, as seen in Fig. 2.

When the lever, 41, is operated for sliding the shaft 37 against the resistance of its springs, the clutch member, 22, is immediately moved toward its companion member, but the fork, 36, travels in the wide slot, 35a, of the member, 35, without moving sai clutch member, 35, but the clutch member, 22, is normally distant from its companion member on the shaft 20 a distance greater than that which separatesthe two members, 35 and 34, enoughto compensate for the difference in the'width of the slots in the two clutch members, 35 and 22, respectively, so that the two clutches come into engagement at the same time, and both parts of the mechanism start together. But in operating the lever, 41, for disengagement, the clutch member, 22, is immediately taken out of engagement with its companion member, such disengagement being effected while the lever, 41, is moved from the notch, 52, to the notch, 53, in the segment, 54, and when the detent on the lever, 41, is enga-ged with the notch, 53, the gathering and husking mechanisms are out of action while the ear-delivering elevator is in action. In order to take the latter out of action, the lever, 41, is moved to the position shown in Fig. 2, where its detent is engaged with the notch, 56, of the segment, 54.

The frictional connection from the bevelgear, 29, to the clutch member, 34, permits the ear-delivering elevator mechanism to slip when the elevator becomes clogged or overloaded.

The particular construction of the ear deand husking mechanism is not claimed in this application but the general structure maybe described for the purpose of understanding its relation to the driving train above described. From a sprocket wheel, 25", on the shaft, 25h, a chain passes to a sprocket wheel, 61, on the transverse shaft, 62, suitably journaled at the rear of the traction wheels A, A. The second sprocket wheel, 63, on said shaft communicates power by means of a chain, 64, to a sprocket wheel, 65, on the upper shaft, 66, of the conveyer chain, 67, by which the ears detached from the snapping rolls hereinafter mentioned, are carried up rearwardly for delivery downward into the hopper, 4, in which are the husking rolls, 5, already mentioned. Thesehusking rolls are geared together in series from an intermediate one so that they revolve alternately in opposite directions as may be understood from the representation of the gears, 5a, in Fig. 3, said intermediate roll having its shaft connected by toggle joint, 5", with the shaft, 62, above mentioned. The snappingrolls may be understood as being of familiar construction and location that is inclined upward from vfront to rear (asnmay be understood from Fig. 3) in which one of the rolls, 70, is shown where the trough 71 of the ear delivering device is broken away. Any customary means for communicating power to the snapping rolls may be employed. No specific means is shown.

It frequently happens that the upper end of a stalk is broken off with an ear when the stem of an ear is tougher than the stalk. Such stalk ends being impelled endwise up along the inclined snapping rolls and projected with some momentum rearward from the top of the conveyer, 2 should, if possible, be separated from the ears and broken off from any ear or ears which may still be attached to them. For that purpose, there are mounted at a position a little rearward from the upper delivery end of the conveyer, 2, a pair of stalk-ejecting and ear-detaching or snapping rolls, 72 and 7 3, mounted upon a suitable extension of the frame with their axes horizontal and transverse to the direction of travel, and their meeting line in such position that the stalks projected endwise from the top of the snapping roll elevator will be thrust against them and be drawn between them, causing any ears which may be so attached to them to be snapped 0E at the forward side and dropped into the hop-v per,

4, while the stalks are ejected endwise rearward to the ground. These rolls, 72 and 73, may be driven by any convenient connection Vwith the other portions of the mechanism, as by the chains, 64, which drive lalso the conveyer as above described.

I claim 1. In a corn-gathering machine, in combination with means for detaching the ears from the stalks and the husks from the ears, an elevator comprising a casing constituting a receptacle into which the ears are delivered from the husking device, said casing being extended up at the under or back side of the elevator, and open at the upper end, such elevator casing being mounted for rocking about an aXis near its lower end, and adapted to be swung the delivery side of the upper end of the elevator overhangs said open mouth of the casing, and means for releasably securing the casing at such position.

2. In a corn-gathering machine, in combination with gathering and husking mechanisms, and an ear elevating and delivering mechanism, a powershaft from which all said mechanisms derive movement; a clutch for engaging the gathering and husking mechanisms with the power shafts; another clutch for engaging the ear elevating and delivering mechanisms with said shaft; shipping devices for operating said clutches; a hand lever lfor actuating the shipping devices; the clutch for connecting the ear elelsu to position at which v peripheral groove, the shipping device thereextent of the lost motion of said other clutch member. y

5. In a corn-gathering machine, in combination with snapping rolls and an elevator for delivering the plucked ears to succeeding mechanism; a hopper which extends under the delivery end of said elevator; a yielding stripper and a spring which holds it no-rmally upstanding within the hopper its movable member provided with a wide for comprising a fork for engaging said groove narrower than the groove, the shipping device for the other clutch comprising a fork for engaging its movable member proportioned so as to be engaged therewith substantially without lost motion; the movable members of the two clutches being pl0 sitioned with respect to their operating forks under said delivery end in the path ofthe for simultaneous movement into engagement ear-propelling devices of t-he elevator. with their respective coperating members In a corn-gathering machine, in comafter the fork of the second-mentioned bination with an elevator for delivering the clutch has moved in the wide groove to the plucked ears to a succeeding mechanism; a limit thereof in the direction for moving hopper which extends under the upper desaid member to its engagement. livery end of such elevator; yielding strip- 3. In a corn gathering machine, in compers and means holding them yieldingly upbination with a power train, gathering and standing within the hopper under saidk dehusking mechanisms and an ear elevating livery end in the path of the ear-propelling and delivering mechanism, separate trains devices of the elevator, certain of said yieldfor actuating the gathering and husking ing strippers standing in the fore-and-aft p mechanisms on the one hand and the ear plane of the conveyer chain ofthe elevator elevating' and delivering mechanisms on the and having the upper .end' curved forward other hand; clutches connecting said mechatrending approximately in the direction of nisms to the power train and a single opertravel of the under or return ply ofv said ating lever fo-r both clutches; operating con- 4Chaillnections from the hand lever to the clutches,- 7 In a corn-gathering machine, in comsaid operating connections of the elevator binat-ion with snapping rolls and an elevator operating clutch having means for lost mofor delivering the plucked ears to the suction for delaying the disengaging moveceeding mechanism; a hopperwhich is overment of that clutch relatively to that of the hung at one side by the upper delivery end other. of t-he elevator for receiving the ears, and t. In a corn-gathering machine, in coma pair of rollers mounted above the hopper bination with gathering and huskingmechaat the opposite side near the level of the nisms and an ear elevating and delivering upper end O'f the elevator for engaging mechanism, a power shaft from which said stalks projected from t-he elevator, and mechanisms derive movement; a clutch for means for rotating said rollers in a direction engaging the gathering and husking mechasuch that their proximate sides move onnisms with t-he power shaft; another clutch ward in the directionof ksuch projection for for engaging the ear elevating and deliverdischarging the stalks beyond the hopper.

ing mechanisms wit-h said shaft; shipping In a corn-gathering machine, in comdevices for operating said clutches; a lever bination with snapping rolls'and an velevator for operating the shipping devices, one of for delivering the plucked ears to the sucsaid clutches having its movable member ceeding mechanism; a hopper which is overprovided with a peripheral groove for the hung at one side by the upper delivery end engagement of the shipping device thereof the' elevator for receiving the ears; stalkwith which is wider than the engaging part' engaging devices adapted for detachingears of said shipping device, whereby there is from stalk fragments which may have been caused lost motion between the two, the broken off with the ear mounted above the other clutch having its shipping' device enhopper in position to receive stalk fragments gaged substantially without loss of motion; discharged from the upper end of the the said movable members of the two elevator. clutches being positioned relatively to each In testimony whereof I have hereunto set other and to their respective shipping demy hand, in the presence of two witnesses, vices and their respective coperating memat Chicago, Illinois, this 10th day of June,

bers, so that at the limit of the movement of A. D. 1909. the shipping devices in the direct-ion for disf JOSEPH BODA. engagement, the clutch member having no In the presence of#- lost motion is withdrawn from its coperat-- ERTRUDE ADY ing member farther than the other to the S ABBOTT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. C. 

